“I don’t like country & western, I don’t like rock music… I don’t like rockabilly! I don’t like much really do I? But what I do like, I love passionately!!”: CHRIS LOWE
With their name standing for “non-human”, Berlin-based duo NNHMN are possessed with a supernatural presence.
“Self-transforming creatures speaking in a colored language”, Lee Margot and Michal Laudarg present their haunted but danceable electronic sound with a stark brutalism and enigmatic female vocals.
From their upcoming EP ‘For The Comfort Of Your Exstazy’, the body is strong on its lead track ‘Omen’ and its pulsing backbone recalls THE CHEMICAL BROTHERS ‘Out of Control’.
In these unsettling times, ‘Omen’ captures the zeitgeist with a poignant anti-war message. NNHMN said “We can’t stand neutrally when this senseless war is turning into pure hell. The artist can’t stay neutral, the artist must use a weapon that is their strongest asset”. Stating the true nature of evil, it declares “So they worshipped the dragon giving the power unto the beast so now who’s able to make a war with him…”
The self-directed video exudes an underground voyeurism, described as “the world in which incarnations of ancient gods live. The modern urban techno panorama where sinister doom meets ethereal and untouchable higher self…”
Inspired by ‘The Cremaster Cycle’ films and ‘The Neverending Story’ with a touch of BDSM and bondage fashion, the video to ‘Omen’ is striking, seeing good triumphing over evil in a wish that many are feeling right now. So in “the rise of rebellion”, “dash yourself against the wall” and “shake it up rave it all rave it all away”.
NNHMN’s debut album ‘Church Of No Religion’ was released in 2019, but the couple have since gone down the EP route in pursuit of their non-conformist creative freedom with the appropriately titled ‘Your Body’ being a particular highlight from their most recent release ‘Tomorrow’s Heroine’.
‘Omen’ is from ‘For The Comfort Of Your Exstazy’ released by Young and Cold Records on 25th May 2022 as a black or lemon green 12” vinyl EP and CD, pre-order from https://nnhmn.bandcamp.com/
NNHMN 2022 live shows include:
Düsseldorf Kulturbanausen Im Ratinger Hof (16th April), Munich Katzenclub (17th April), Bologna Tank Serbatoio Culturale (29th April), Ilmenau Baracke 5 (7th May), Leipzig Festival (3rd June), Messina, Retronoveau (11th June), Paris, L’International (14th June), Lille Gare Saint Sauveur (16th June), Lyon Sonic (17th June), The Hague Paard (17th June)
With nine acclaimed long players to their name, ADULT. issued their most recent album ‘Becoming Undone’ as a doomy discordant statement capturing “something that’s falling apart”.
In a 23 year career, Adam Lee Miller and Nicola Kuperus first came to wider attention with ‘Hand To Phone’ in 2001. Presenting a stark response to their surroundings, the dystopian demeanour of ADULT. remains as vital as ever as their living art project continues to evolve.
Although 2013’s ‘The Way Things Fall’ possessed an unexpected accessibility and 2017’s ‘Detroit House Guests’ saw the Detroit synth-punk duo open their doors to outside collaborators, this new body of work is more personal, embroiled in pain and bereavement while created in isolation during a state of flux with a healthy acceptance of destruction.
ADULT. kindly took time out from a hectic and intense European live tour to have a quick chat with ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about ‘Becoming Undone’ and the development of their dark dance aesthetic…
Thematically and conceptually, how does ‘Becoming Undone’ differ from previous ADULT. albums?
In working on a new album, we always try to approach the process differently. For instance, the last album ‘Perception IS/AS/OF Deception’ was written in a black void with minimal equipment at hand for the demos. ‘This Behavior’ was written in a remote cabin in the woods. ‘Why Bother?’ was more soundtrack oriented and based on serial killers and cult leaders.
In our latest album ‘Becoming Undone’, it was literally written out of pure necessity to try to emerge out of the liminal state we were put in through the pandemic. We did not control the concept on this record – the world did. So there is a lot more dissonance and looping motifs in this record, rhythm is stronger than melody as there was no harmony in the world as we wrote it. This album was a mirror to the world land life in general.
‘Becoming Undone’ has been described as capturing “something that’s falling apart”?
Well, we wrote the album during the pandemic when everything was falling apart. Massive amount of people were dying of the virus and Nicola‘s father passed away (not from Covid, but during the pandemic). We had lost all of our tours and all of our income. Then as we were trying once again to get into the writing process, the ex-loser President of the United States decided to try to do his big lie and steal the election, followed by the insurrection on the US Capitol – sooooo everything really was falling apart and we felt to album should mirror that.
As well as synths, ‘Becoming Undone’ sees vocal loop pedals added to the tech armoury, what attracted you to using these?
One of the main things we like about analog equipment (which is 97% of our studio) is the different interfaces they have and the different abilities to move between control and arbitrary experimentation. We both find vocal loop pedals very non-intuitive (as opposed to something from Roland, which we understand easily the way the gear works). So for us, the looper gave us a chance to not be in control, to come up with some layers or parts to songs that we normally would not come up with. It added randomness to the songs.
The music has ramped up percussively and ‘Our Bodies Weren’t Wrong’ comes with a fitting EBM backdrop, had there been any inspiration from having worked previously with Douglas J McCarthy of NITZER EBB?
NITZER EBB has always been a major influence for the both of us. It was one of the few bands when we met years ago that we really had in common. The music on the new album ‘Becoming Undone’ has become more and more percussive because we included electronic pads, not only to the writing process, but to the live set as well. This came out of many different reasons, but one was that we figured after the pandemic, people were going to be ready to rage and as London, Brussels, Berlin and other cities have proven – that is very true!
THROBBING GRISTLE have been cited as an influence on the album with ‘Normative Sludge’ examining the delusional nature of the Instagram / Tik Tok generation, why was this such an inspirational source for you?
THROBBING GRISTLE is one of our favorite bands and it not only comes down to the quality of the songs but also the way they do not fit into any single genre. They came up with a name for their own genre (Industrial) which must have been very liberating until it was stolen from them for idiots like Marilyn Manson. Going back to this idea of things falling apart, THROBBING GRISTLE is so good at having songs that sound like they’re falling apart. As we wanted to discuss the ideas of collapse, they were an obvious inspiration.
Although there is less melody this time round, do you think ‘Undoing / Undone’ and ‘I Am Nothing’ could be considered quite classic ADULT. songs?
The only way to know if something will be classic is to allow time to pass. For us, everything on this new album is too close to us right now to dissect.
Industrial S&M looms on ‘I, Obedient’, is society too submissive now?
Society is an awfully big word. Of course there are parts of society that are too submissive and there are parts of society that are resisting. Always resisting.
‘Teeth Out Pt. II’ is a doomy aural collage of drones like a symbol of decay, how did the track come together?
This is one of those magical tracks where we got the new looper and we had absolutely no idea how to operate it. Adam always reads manuals but Nicola never does and that brings two different approaches to the song writing process. So Nicola just started immediately working with the pedal and suddenly there were three or four really beautiful layers counterpointing each other. When we came back to the demo months later, we were shocked it was almost complete as it was. We even tried adding drum machines to the song but in the end it became our first song ever without any beats!
What are your hopes and fears for the future, you have talked about how “Humans have always been pretty terrible”?
We have no hopes for the future and we have many fears like everyone right now, but at the end of the day we just have to be present – at least try to. Living in the moment seems to be the most important thing right now. We played a pretty insane show in Brussels two weeks ago and there was this 9 year old girl that was the daughter of one of the volunteers at the venue that befriended us during the evening and after the show she came up to Nicola and said “Do you know what I liked about your show? You just went for it!” That’s our current motto for this time and place in time.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to ADULT.
As work on their long awaited ‘VII’ EP continues, “Sweden’s best kept pop-secret” KITE are back with some ‘Panic Music’.
It follows up the celebratory pop rave of ‘Teenage Bliss’ and the moody introspection of ‘Tranås/Stenslanda’, both from 2020. ‘Panic Music’ exudes a fierce anxiety with front man Nicklas Stenemo presenting his characteristic screaming delivery.
While the epic neo-gothic textures associated with KITE are present and correct, Christian Berg further explores his fascination for electronic drones and swoops while there is also the surprise of a guitar solo in the middle eight.
Directed by Mattias Erik Johansson with Director of Photography Daniel Tackas, the accompanying video possesses an eerie desolate quality with grainy images sourced from old tube TVs and filmed on actual VHS tape as well as more modern computer image merging. The stress and strain of the past two years and a very uncertain future are captured both musically and visually in less than five minutes!
Meanwhile on Saturday 14th May, KITE will broadcast their sold-out gig live from Fållan in Stockholm’s former slaughterhouse district where viewers are promised an intimate and cinematic experience with new techniques in livestream production and a completely new stage show.
In 2019, KITE’s sold-out concert at Stockholm’s Royal Opera Theatre was broadcast on Sweden’s SVT2 national channel. The live presentation added an orchestra to their mighty electronic sound and showcased the duo’s artistic integrity and innovation with an unusual theatrical presentation that involved supporting actors within a mocked-up office setting alongside Stenemo and Berg’s fort of synthesizers.
‘Panic Music’ is released by Astronaut Recordings via the usual digital platforms
KITE’s show at Stockholm Fållan on Saturday 14th May 2022 will be live streamed in association with Doors.live, tickets are available from https://doors.live/en/e/kite-may14
Since releasing their first album ‘Disco Romance’ in 2006, SALLY SHAPIRO have charmed audiences with a brand of melancholic but uplifting electronic pop.
Despite the name, they are actually a Swedish duo comprising of the enigmatic anonymous songstress Sally Shapiro and producer Johan Agebjörn. The albums ‘My Guilty Pleasure’ and ‘Somewhere Else’ followed but then in 2016, SALLY SHAPIRO issued a final single ‘If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind’ and retired.
Agebjörn had begun a parallel solo career with 2011’s ‘Casablanca Nights’ album featuring LE PRIX, LAKE HEARTBEAT and QUEEN OF HEARTS but his profile was raised again with his work on the Swedish comedy thriller ‘Videoman’ which included ‘Hot Boy’ with Samantha Fox and ‘Love On Ice’ with Italo star Ryan Paris in a duet with Sally. This seeded a reunion and work on a brand new SALLY SHAPIRO album entitled ’Sad Cities’.
Released with great acclaim earlier this year by Italians Do It Better and headed by the single ‘Fading Away’ after a 5 year absence, as with previous albums, a remix variant of ‘Sad Cities’ is now available, featuring reworks by ITALOCONNECTION, BETAMAXX, SUNGLASSES KID, BARK BARK DISCO and IDIB head honcho Johnny Jewel among many.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK had the pleasure of talking to Sally Shapiro and Johan Agebjörn about the making of ‘Sad Cities’, its remix collection and other aspects of their career to date…
What some don’t realise is that like GOLDFRAPP, SALLY SHAPIRO is a duo so what inspired you to adopt a “person” as a nom de théâtre rather than a group moniker?
Sally: We were inspired by some Italo disco artists like Valerie Dore or Katy Gray that had a female singer with an English-sounding pseudonym as the project name. So we wanted to do it in the same way. First the idea was to just make a single with that pseudonym, but then it quickly got established so it felt natural to continue to use it!
How would describe the creative and recording dynamic of SALLY SHAPIRO, do you sit together or work separately?
Sally: We work pretty much separately. Johan prepares the instrumental and then I go into the studio recording the vocals. Johan is not allowed to be in the studio when I sing. We of course listen to the music together and discuss different ideas and so on.
Are there any particular synths, drum machines and techniques that form the classic SALLY SHAPIRO sound?
Johan: We use a lot of drum sounds from the Simmons, LinnDrum, TR-808 and TR-909 drum machines. I have an old keyboard Yamaha PSR-3500 that has a bass sound and some percussion sounds that I’ve used a lot. The synths have been quite different ones, but a lot of Roland Juno and Jupiter series, or software emulations / samples of those. My favourite reverb is a built-in reverb in Propellerheads Reason.
SALLY SHAPIRO is a quite low key project in the grander scheme of things within the music scene but when did you realise the music was gaining traction and a cult following?
Johan: During 2006 and 2007, the listener count gradually grew, much thanks to Pitchfork who promoted every single we released and put ‘Disco Romance’ in their best-of-the-year chart. Still, it took a few years until we realised that some people actually viewed ‘Disco Romance’ as a cult album and were paying quite a lot of money for the original vinyl pressing. That felt weird.
The new album ‘Sad Cities’ came after a public announcement in 2016 that there would be no more music as SALLY SHAPIRO. But the gap was actually smaller than some acts’ time between albums when they haven’t announced a “retirement”, do you ever regret making the announcement and that perhaps a rest was all that was needed?
Sally: In one way, looking back it was maybe an immature announcement. At the same time, maybe it was a belief in a “total retirement” that was needed to get back the inspiration. We felt absolutely no pressure to make anything new, and maybe that was good for the creativity and the inspiration to record.
Saying that, the most recent album was ‘Somewhere Else’ in 2013 but there was the Johan solo album ‘Casablanca Nights’ before that. How do you look back on that prolific period?
Johan: It was a period with a lot of collaborations with other musicians, especially on ‘Casablanca Nights’, and a lot of DJing around the world, lots of remixing and lots of fun with now-defunct mp3 blogs that posted the music. I recently re-released ‘Casablanca Nights’ in a 22-track edition on Bandcamp, it was fun and nostalgic to revisit all the music from that time. In retrospect, this was the period when synthwave took shape and reached its creative peak, and I’m glad that we got some remixes by some of those artists (MIAMI NIGHTS 1984, MITCH MURDER, ANORAAK, LE MATOS etc) while the genre was still pretty new.
What was the impetus to relaunch SALLY SHAPIRO?
Sally: A few musical ideas that just had to take shape into SALLY SHAPIRO tracks. After that it felt necessary to make a whole album!
How did Italians Do It Better and Johnny Jewel come to be involved in ‘Sad Cities’?
Johan: We had been in contact a few times earlier through the years, I emailed them and asked if Johnny wanted to take part in the production of the album in some form. They replied and were very enthusiastic about the album and after a while it felt logical to release the album on Italians Do It Better. Johnny and I mixed the album together and he helped out with some drum sounds that he recorded from his drum machines. He also remixed ‘Forget About You’ for the remix album.
‘Forget About You’, the opening song on ‘Sad Cities’ began as a collaboration with Ryan Paris, how did that come about?
Johan: We made a collaboration with Ryan Paris in 2018, ‘Love On Ice’ (released as a Johan Agebjörn track with duet guest vocals by Sally and Ryan), for the soundtrack to a Swedish movie called ‘Videoman’. We liked how it turned out, and ‘Forget About You’ was originally also a Sally / Ryan duet released as a Johan Agebjörn single in 2020, but then for the album we re-recorded it as a Sally solo track. Then Johnny Jewel liked it so much that he wanted it to be a single, and also the track that he wanted to remix for the remix album. Actually, there’s also an original instrumental version of the track from 1994 that I recorded on my Yamaha PSR-3500 keyboard at the time, completely without computer. That version is included as a “B-side” on the single!
‘Million Ways’ surprised listeners with its Italo House and jazz vibe?
Johan: Yeah, it was an attempt to recreate the Italo house sound of 1990 (in particular the productions at the time by Gianfranco Bortolotti – Cappella, 49ers etc) with the SALLY SHAPIRO atmosphere. I was a big fan of that sound at the time with the Korg M1 pianos and clattering 909 snares, also pretty similar to what MADONNA (‘Vogue’) and PET SHOP BOYS did at the time.
‘Fading Away’ is an epic dance tune to close, what was its genesis?
Johan: Thank you! I and Mikael Ögren have been working on ambient music and this is actually a result from those sessions, but something that we thought should be more synthwave-ish. So it has both a bit of atmospheric ambient feel and a bit of the relentless 80s disco / synthwave feel.
How do you think ‘Sad Cities’ has been received?
Johan: Really well! We had no idea if people would still be receptive of our music, but we feel really welcomed back.
As with previous SALLY SHAPIRO albums, ‘Sad Cities’ is being released in a remix variant; as someone who has remixed material for others, is there a brief given out to producers and do you have power of veto just in case?
Johan: We usually don’t give any directions, but sometimes they ask and we tell them maybe which of their tracks that have the sound that we think could sound good with Sally. We usually give some feedback during the process though, a lot of the times we ask for the vocals to be louder. Interestingly, that’s also what Johnny often asked me to change on the original versions! I think that when you produce a track you “know” the vocals and want to highlight all different parts in the production, but as someone listening for the first time, it’s important that the vocals stand out and sound clear if it’s pop music, I think.
Unlike many other remix albums, the companion to ‘Sad Cities’ is very listenable with the SUNGLASSES KID remix of ‘Tell Me How’ and ITALOCONNECTION’s take on ‘Believe In Me’ being particularly good. How did you choose the remixers?
Johan: It has to be a producer with some kind of warmth in their sound, but apart from that we like to have varied styles from ambient (Krister Linder) to techno (VONDA7) and a lot of 80s style producers of course. Many times it’s of course producers / remixers that have produced / remixed something that we’ve been impressed with. Some of them are artists we’ve been following for many many years, like Johnny Jewel, Fred Ventura of ITALOCONNECTION or Krister Linder (Swedish ambient / synthpop legend).
Ben Macklin gives ‘Dulcinea’ a wonderful pop treatment which is quite different from the midtempo synthwave-based original?
Johan: Yeah, Ben made a remix of our 2016 single ‘If You Ever Wanna Change Your Mind’ that we were really happy with, so we wanted to ask him again, and were really happy with the luxurious result.
BARK BARK DISCO’s remix of ‘Holiday’ is on the album as a sort of extra, what was the thinking behind covering this particular MADONNA song out of so many?
Sally: We made the ‘Holiday’ cover for Italians Do It Better’s MADONNA compilation last summer. It’s one of our favourite MADONNA tracks and suited us really well. But actually, our first choice would have been ‘La Isla Bonita’ but that song was already taken!
Johan: For a while we thought about including ‘Holiday’ on the original album, but in the end we didn’t think it fit with the rest of the tracks. When we removed it, BARK BARK DISCO had already started remixing ‘Holiday’, and on the remix album, we think his remix fits better than the original ‘Holiday’ did on the original album. It’s a really fun and groovy remix.
Which are your own favourites from the remix version of Sad Cities’?
Sally: Oh it’s too difficult to choose!
What would you say have been your proudest moments as SALLY SHAPIRO, be it particular albums, songs or synchronisations?
Johan: Difficult question. Right now we feel a bit proud of ‘Sad Cities’, since the project felt buried just a few years ago.
So what is next either as SALLY SHAPIRO or under different umbrellas or projects?
Johan: It’s too early to speak about new SALLY SHAPIRO releases, but we have a mix for another artist in the loop. I am currently preparing a live ambient / chillwave performance together with Mikael Ögren for a festival in Norway this summer. I and Mikael haven’t performed live together before, so it requires some planning and practising!
Finally, talking of other projects, what was it like working with Samantha Fox on ‘Hot Boy’ for the ‘Videoman’ soundtrack in 2018?
Johan: It was a surreal experience! I made the track ‘Hot Boy’ together with my frequent co-writer Roger Gunnarsson, and Kristian (the director of ‘Videoman’) suggested that we should send it to Samantha Fox. I thought there was one chance in a million, but contacted her through her official website and got a reply after a few days from her manager, that she had listened to the song and wanted to sing on it!
She recorded the vocals in the UK, so we never met during the recording process, but she came to Gothenburg for the recording of the music video later. The music video was prepared and filmed by the ‘Videoman’ team at a hotel, it was a fantastic day with a lot of enthusiastic people. Samantha was very joyful and easy to talk to.
ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK gives its warmest thanks to Sally Shapiro and Johan Agebjörn
Special thanks to Frankie Davison at Stereo Sanctity
‘Sad Cities (The Remixes)’ and the original album are released by Italians Do It Better, available now from https://sallyshapiro.bandcamp.com/
Singer Karen Hunter has recorded a wonderful cover of the Gary Numan ballad ‘Don’t Call My Name’ in support of The Ced Sharpley Drumming Bursary.
As Karen Taylor, she was a band member on Numan’s ‘Berserker’ and ‘The Fury’ tours. She had previously sung on the 1976 Giorgio Moroder produced single ‘Doctor Funk’ by the German band SMILEY.
Ced Sharpley was Gary Numan’s drummer from 1979 to 1992; after he sadly passed away in 2012, the bursary was founded in his memory by Ced’s partner Gill Mabey and her brother David Mabey.
The bursary pays for one year’s special one-to-one drum tuition for a chosen pupil at Ashlyns School in Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire where Ced was a former pupil. A new recipient is chosen each year and it is entirely funded by donations and fund-raising events.
‘Don’t Call My Name’ was the closing track on the 1988 album ‘Metal Rhythm’ and the haunting song is given a serene feminine twist. It has been produced by music veteran Steve Hunter who played guitar on Peter Gabriel’s debut solo single ‘Solsbury Hill’ and was also in the live bands of Lou Reed and Alice Cooper. Acting as executive producer and project manager is Stephen Roper of The Numan Arms video interview platform.
Other past Numan associates contributing to this crystalline reinterpretation of ‘Don’t Call My Name’ are Chris Payne on violin and Andy Coughlan on fretless bass. Keyboards come from Anthony Gilroy while noted session musician Steve Hamilton, whose credits include PET SHOP BOYS and RADIOHEAD, provides the slinky sax.
Karen Hunter said this was “a fun project to remember Ced. He was a really lovely man”; all profits from the sale of ‘Don’t Call My Name’ go to The Ced Sharpley Drumming Bursary.
In memory of Ced Sharpley 1952 – 2012
‘Don’t Call My Name’ and its instrumental version are available now as a download bundle direct from https://karenhunter.hearnow.com/
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